Historical Bathythermograph Data from the 1954 John R. Manning Expedition

Temperature-depth profiles collected by the vessel JOHN R. MANNING using a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument. The dataset contains observations from the North and South Pacific Ocean during a cruise from May to June 1954. Data was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to 285m) for a specific historical period.
• Studying temperature variation at uniform 5-meter depth intervals across the cruise track.
• Correlating ocean surface layer conditions with cruise information, date, position, and time for each cast.
• Providing a baseline for comparison with modern ocean temperature profiles in the Pacific.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known standard format (NODC C128), ensuring structured temperature-depth pairs.
• Provides precise temporal coverage from 1954-05-12 to 1954-06-23 for a specific research cruise.
• Records observations at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating consistent vertical analysis.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, column names, file size, and license are unavailable from all sources.
• Instrument limitation: MBT data is only useful for the upper ocean, with a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters.
• There is a conflict in 'last updated' metadata between platforms (2026-03 06 vs. 1954-06-23).

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), from NODC processing.

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument during a ship cruise.

Time Range

1954-05-12 to 1954 -06-23

Freshness

2026-03-06 00:18:47.721657

Geography

North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific Ocean